Yet it was all glossed over with 2:06 left in the game when Bills coach Dick Jauron called on J.P. “Pisarcik” Losman to throw instead of run. Shaun Ellis recovered, scored and all was well in Jetland.

The Jets remain in a three-way tie atop the AFC East, in control of their playoff destiny. You can call it a sloppy win, a miracle win, a lucky win – as long as you call it a win, the Jets don’t care.

“It’s not like the BCS,” Jets coach Eric Mangini said. “You know, we don’t get voted down for style points. First place in the division, two games to go. Not like the BCS. The win is the win is the win.”

It’s true. The Jets (9-5) win this week in Seattle and the following week against Miami at home and they’re division champs. But Sunday’s effort didn’t exactly inspire confidence that this team is capable of playing well down the stretch.

For the third straight week, they looked little like a playoff team and nothing like a team that could play deep into January. After jumping on the Bills 14-3 early, they let a losing team with little to play for back in the game with a turnover and a long punt return that led to scores.

The defense allowed a season-high 187 yards rushing, and the offense failed to get a first down in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve had a little down time right now,” said Ellis, the hero of the game. “We’ll be back. Like the Giants, they said the Giants were the best team, now they’re saying the Giants (stink). It doesn’t make sense. They won all those games for a reason. The same thing with us. We lost some, but we can get back to the winning formula, get back to playing Jets football the way we know how to play and everything will take care of itself.”

The road to the playoffs won’t be easy. The Seahawks (3-11) beat the Rams this week after nearly topping the Patriots the week before. It is Mike Holmgren’s final home game as coach, raising the emotion at Qwest Field.

The week after that, the Chad-Phins await in what will be a Super Bowl atmosphere in East Rutherford. A stumble in either game likely means the Jets will watch the playoffs on TV.

“If we win, we’re in,” offensive tackle Damien Woody said. “We can’t get to where we want to go unless we take care of business out in Seattle.”

Ellis said the team knows what’s at stake and some of the players are brushing aside injuries to stay on the field.

“There’s guys playing banged up,” Ellis said. “They know we’re in a tough bind right now so guys are just sucking it up and going out there to play.”

*

Leon Washington ran the ball once Sunday and scored a 47-yard touchdown. Mangini doesn’t see any reason to give him the ball more, though.

“The alternative to Leon is Thomas (Jones), who has 15 touchdowns and leads the AFC in rushing,” Mangini said. “It’s not like we’re overlooking Leon to give the ball to an ice truck.”

The Jets tried to change their charter flight to Seattle from Friday to Saturday but couldn’t. The Jets have flown to the West Coast on Friday three times this year, all losses.